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The US had announced USD 50bn of tariffs on Chinese exports and China has responded with a matching USD 50bn of tariffs on US exports. But the US has now raised the ante with a further unspecified USD 200bn of tariffs on Chinese goods - and the threat of a further USD 200bn if China responds again in kind. What is the possible impact and what might happen next?

Housing prices in China have been rising rapidly since the beginning of 2015 and it is the question whether or not this is supported by economic fundamentals. Possible negative economic consequences might be severe, since 12% of Chinese urban inhabitants live in ‘bubble-cities’.

Q2 GDP growth was yet again a major disappointment for Japan as the economy shrank 0.3% q-o-q terms. Current loose monetary policy is not able to tackle structural economic problems, such as lower household’s spending power.

Economic growth was surprisingly strong in the first quarter of 2015. Underlying, however, the situation has hardly changed and the benefits of the weak yen will still only marginally affect export growth.